Paypal email #scam

I received this ‘phishing’ scam in my inbox this morning. It’s supposed to be from Paypal, and the ‘hook’ is that my account has been limited or suspended. When I looked at the email more closely, however, I noticed that:

the sender was NOT from Paypal

the email did NOT address me by name

and the whole email was funneling me towards the big, blue link you can see below

Seems pretty obvious, right?

Actually, despite having seens hundreds of these scam emails in my time, I still felt a moment of fright when I read this one. Why? Because I use Paypal for most of my online purchases, so the threat of having that service removed hit me where I live.

Unfortunately, that moment of fright is exactly what makes phishing email scams work. The scammers send out millions of these emails at random in the hope that a few will reach people who actually use the service [like me]. Then there is a chance that some of those people will be fooled into clicking the link in the email.

But what happens next?

I haven’t done this personally, but from my research it appears that the link takes you to a website that is made to look exactly like the real thing. Once on the website, you are asked to login with your account ID and password. The fake login will fail, of course, but by then the scammers will have exactly what they want – the account information of another victim.

So never EVER follow a link from an email to a financial account, even if the email looks 100% genuine. Always navigate to the website manually – i.e. by typing in the address in the address bar of your browser or by clicking a ‘Favorite’ that you have set up for yourself. Do not give in to the kneejerk reaction triggered by fright.

I know I harp on about these email scams like a cracked gramophone record [anyone remember them?]

but there are new people coming online every day, and they are at risk from these scammers. Please spread the word when you can.

cheers

Meeks

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About acflory

I am the kind of person who always has to know why things are the way they are so my interests range from genetics and biology to politics and what makes people tick.
For fun I play online mmorpgs, read, listen to a music, dance when I get the chance and landscape my rather large block.
Work is writing. When a story I am working on is going well I'm on cloud nine. On bad days I go out and dig big holes...
View all posts by acflory

Reblogged this on barclaydave and commented:
So true, a lot of newbies coming online are elderly, young and have not had access to these scams before. If we can prevent anyone from falling victim then our knowledge is shared and we can slow down the scammers. They won’t stop unless no one falls for their ruse.
Please leave comments against the original post, thank you.

Good point Lisa. Unfortunately I deleted mine as soon as I’d taken the screenshot. I try and remember next time.
Just on that topic, I wish there were some central agency that handled all scams so we could send them to a one-stop-shop. Maybe one day. 🙂

Reblogged this on Between the Beats and commented:
Scams are a huge problem. I imagine PayPal is one of the most popular pay sites online. Please read this and be wary of any e-mail that looks suspicious.

I’ve received a couple of these from PayPal and notified PayPal of the scam. They actually take action on these things. Also, another one to be wary of – Amazon with an “Order pending” or some other dubious pitch. Again, Amazon will notify you – your real name – and tell you what this issue is and not with some obscure “click here for more info.” I almost panicked and clicked then realized, I had no idea what order Amazon was discussing. The last time I received an issue from Amazon (late shipment), they showed me the item in question – this email scam did not. You’re right – always be wary and never click on an email link. Go directly to the site via a new browser window. Good article.

Hi Bob and thanks for commenting. That moment of panic you mentioned is exactly what I felt, /despite/ knowing better. That’s one reason I post about these scams – to reach those who don’t know and do panic.
Unfortunately, the scammers are becoming so professional they’re not as easy to pick as they used to be.
Fingers crossed we got through to at least a few people.:)

Reblogged this on Michaelphelps1's Blog and commented:
i HAVE RECEIVED THE SAME . . . OVER & OVER! AS WITH PayPal,
I ALWAYS CALL (REMEMBER THE OLD FASHIONED TELEPHONE WHERE PEOPLE ACTUALLY TALK TO EACH OTHER (NOT TEXTING). MY BANKERS KNOW ME & I CAN ALWAYS REACH MY BANKERS PERSONALLY BY PHONE). PayPal HAS A WAY TO INVESTIGATE (& HOPEFULLY STOP) THESE SCAMMERS. JUST FORWARD THE SUSPECT E-MAIL TO:http://www.spoof@PayPal.com, THEN DELETE IT (BY PASSSING “tRASH”).

Thanks for the Alerts. I Live in New York City so I subscribe to FTC (Federal Trade Commission) alerts and also get alerts from AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). Internet scams are worldwide problems.

Yes I do remember gramophones or rather my parents talking about them. My mother used to call record players Victrolas! Talk about showing my age!!

Yet another scam! Between the ROBO calls claiming to be from the Treasury Department, telling me that if I ignore the call I will be in violation of tax laws, the phishing expeditions in my email in-box and politics, I’m maxed out on scams and scammers!